Spinal decompression, also known as “traction,” is a broad term including many treatments involving elongation forces being applied longitudinally to the human torso. Both lumbar decompression along the lower back and cervical decompression along the upper back and neck can be provided by applying traction to the human form. Such treatments are typically applied in a professional's facility for relief of pain for those patients suffering from many spinal ailments that cause back pain due to spinal compression.
Only minimal and inconsistent forces can be applied directly by human force without mechanical assistance. Some corrective procedures can be applied by hand without using any mechanism. For example, some spinal subluxations are treated by hand by chiropractors. Spinal decompression, however, may not be best served by sudden or inconsistent discomforting forces, to which a person under treatment may instinctively resist with muscle contractions, both intended and as an unintended reflexes. Muscle relaxation should occur in concert with traction for full benefit and patient comfort both physically and psychologically.
Traction machines are available for assisting professionals in patient treatment. A typical such machine, however, is not portable in that it is too bulky or heavy for easy movement or placement within a home. Typical machines also include powered motors and complicated control systems. Such elements are heavy and expensive, and they insert a needless degrees of separation between the hand of a user and the application of force, blocking intuitive feel. A patient being winched by a powered system may not be comforted by the sound or whirring motors and may resist the treatment, intentionally or otherwise, by contracting muscles affected by the fraction.